“Wow.” I smile. “A doctor, a scientist, and a policeman. Your parents must be proud.”
“I have a sister, too. Francesca. She’s only fifteen.” He smiles wistfully, and I can tell he has a soft spot for her.
“Three big brothers to protect her.” I widen my eyes. “Lucky girl.”
He chuckles as our drinks arrive. “Thank you,” Rico says to the waiter before he turns back to me. “Francesca doesn’t think so. Apparently, we’re the bane of her existence.”
I giggle, imagining being on the wrong side of Enrico. What a nightmare that would be.
“What about you? Where do you live?” he asks.
“I live in Sydney.”
“Who with?”
“Alone.”
His face falls. “You live alone?”
“Yes.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-seven. How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-two.”
“Old,” I say.
He chuckles and his eyes linger on my face again. “So, you…” He stops himself.
“Go ahead. Ask whatever you wanted to.”
“You have just come out of a relationship?”
I shrug. “Yes and no.”
“What does that mean?”
“I broke up with my childhood sweetheart when I was twenty-four, and then…” I pause, embarrassed. “Then I met my next boyfriend and I was with him for a couple of years. We broke up over a year ago.”
Our breakfast arrives. It looks amazing as the waiter puts it down in front of us. “Grazie.” I smile before we are left alone again.
Rico looks back up at me. “Why did you break up with the last boyfriend?”
“He wasn’t the one.”
“Who broke it off?”
“I did.”
He picks up his coffee and sips it, seemingly mollified.
“Why are you still single, Rico?”
“I haven’t had a serious girlfriend in years.”
“Why not?”